Location registration method, information distribution method, mobile communications network and mobile communications terminal

ABSTRACT

An ID signal indicating a base station ID is broadcasted by a base station  21  sited in a specific area of a location registration area. When receiving the ID signal, a mobile station  10  located in the radio zone of the base station  21  transmits to the base station  21  a location registration request signal including the base station ID and a mobile station ID. The base station ID and the mobile station ID are registered in a home memory  23  as narrow-area location registration information. An IP server  40   a  acquires location related information from a location-related information data base  41   a  and transmits it to a gateway server  25 . The gateway server  25  specifies a destination of transmission for the received location related information by referring to the home memory  23  and transmits the location related information to the mobile station  10.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to mobile communications, and morespecifically to location registration of a mobile communication terminaland information distribution to the mobile communication terminal in amobile communication network.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, wireless type mobile communication networks serving mobilecommunication terminals such as wireless telephones have become moreprevalent. This type of mobile communication network typicallydetermines the current location of a wireless telephone. Determinationof the current location allows the mobile communication network to callthe wireless telephone when calls to the wireless telephone are receivedby the mobile communication network.

The location of the wireless telephone may be determined with a locationregistration process. In the location registration process, a locationof a wireless telephone is registered as being within a locationregistration area. The location registration area includes multipleradio zones and is a geographic area having a radius of several hundredmeters to several kilometers. The geographic area is formed by the radiozones of multiple base stations of a mobile communications network. Eachbase station transmits an area ID specific to the location registrationarea. Moving wireless telephones may detect entry into a differentlocation registration area when an area ID received from a base stationchanges.

When the location registration area changes, a wireless telephone sendsa location-registration request signal to the mobile communicationsnetwork. As a result of the location-registration request signal, the IDof the wireless telephone and the area ID of the new locationregistration area are registered. The ID of the wireless telephone andthe area ID of the new location registration area are registered aslocation registration information in a location registration database inthe mobile communications network. In this way, the mobile communicationnetwork can know the location registration area in which a wirelesstelephone is currently located. The mobile communication network may usethe location registration information to forward calls to the wirelesstelephone.

Recently, voiceless use of a mobile communications network such as amobile packet communications service is becoming popular. Datacommunication services that distribute value added information relatingto the location of a wireless telephone using the location registrationinformation have been proposed. Using the aforementioned conventionallocation registration process, however, the actual location of awireless telephone cannot be provided. The actual location cannot bedetermined based on the location registration information since thelocation registration area is a wide area that has multiple radio zones(an area with a radius of, for example, 10 Km or greater). For example,in conventional services, it is not possible to distribute locationrelated information limited to a narrow area around a specific trainstation or the like.

Accordingly, a need exists for a location registration system thatdistributes location related information indicating a more limited areathat the wireless telephone is residing within.

SUMMARY

To solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention provides alocation registration method for registering a location of a mobilecommunications terminal served by a mobile communications network. Themethod comprises: broadcasting, from each of one or multiple specificbase stations a radio-zone information notification signal indicatingeach of the base station's own radio zone.

Each of the one or the multiple specific base stations constitutes aradio zone. Each of the one or the multiple specific base stations maybe part of a location registration area consisting of a plurality ofradio zones. Each of the radio zones is provided from a radiotransmission device sited in each of the specific base stations. Themethod also includes detecting in the mobile communications terminal thelocation of the mobile terminal in a radio zone of the one or themultiple specific base stations after having received the radio-zoneinformation notification signal. The method further comprisestransmitting a request signal from the mobile communications terminalthat has detected its location in the radio zone of the one basestation.

The request signal is for requesting a location registration processfrom the one base station. Receiving in the one base station the requestsignal and performing, in the mobile communications network, a locationregistration process. The location registration process may generateinformation regarding a present location of the mobile communicationsterminal in the radio zone of the one base station based on the requestsignal received by the base station.

The present invention further provides an information distributionmethod for distributing information through a mobile communicationsnetwork to a mobile communications terminal served by the mobilecommunications network. The method includes broadcasting, from each ofone or multiple specific base stations a radio-zone informationnotification signal indicating each of the base station's own radiozone. Each of the one or the multiple specific base stations constitutesa radio zone. Each of the one or the multiple specific base stations maybe part of a location registration area consisting of a plurality ofradio zones. Each of the radio zones is provided from a radiotransmission device sited in each of the base stations. The method alsoincludes detecting, with the mobile communications terminal, thelocation of the mobile communication terminal in a radio zone of the oneor one of the multiple specific base stations following receipt of theradio-zone information notification signal.

Transmitting, from the mobile communications terminal to one specificbase station, a request signal to request a location registrationprocess is also included in the method. The method further includesreceiving in the one specific base station the request signal andperforming a location registration process in the mobile communicationsnetwork. The location registration process includes generatinginformation on a present location of the mobile communications terminal.In addition, the location registration process includes distributinginformation from an information distribution server to the mobilecommunications terminal. The information may be distributed afterdesignating the mobile communications terminal based on the presentlocation information generated by the location registration process.

The present invention further provides an information distributionmethod for distributing information through a mobile communicationsnetwork to a mobile communications terminal served by the mobilecommunications network. The method includes transmitting from a mobilecommunications terminal a call signal for calling another communicationsterminal and receiving the transmitted call signal with the one or oneof the multiple specific base stations. Each of the one or-multiplespecific base stations constitutes a radio zone. Each of the one ormultiple specific base stations may be part of a location registrationarea consisting of a plurality of radio zones.

The method also includes performing, a location registration process inthe mobile communications network. The location registration processincludes generating information on a present location of the mobilecommunications terminal in the radio zone of one base station. Theinformation may be generated based on the call signal received by theone base station. In addition, the location registration processincludes distributing information from an information distributionserver, to the mobile communications terminal located in the radio zoneof the one base station. The information may be distributed afterdesignation of the mobile communications terminal based on the presentlocation information generated by the location registration.

The present invention provides still another information distributionmethod for distributing information from an information distributionserver to a mobile communications terminal served by a mobilecommunications network. The method comprises: transmitting from themobile communications terminal a request signal for informationdistribution. The request signal for information distribution includes arequest for the identification information of the mobile terminal makingthe request. The method also includes receiving the request signal witha base station. The base station constituting a radio zone in which themobile communications terminal is located.

Transferring the request signal from the base station that has receivedthe request signal to a determined information distribution server isalso included in the method. The request signal is transferred afteridentification information of the base station has been affixed by thebase station to the request signal The method further includesdistributing information from the information distribution server to themobile communication terminal after specifying a location of the mobilecommunications terminal. The information distribution server maydistribute the requested information distribution based on theidentification information of the base station affixed to the requestsignal and the identification information of the mobile communicationsterminal included in the request signal.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a mobile communicationsnetwork and a mobile communications terminal that includes means forexecuting the location registration methods and information distributionmethods mentioned above.

For example, the present invention provides a mobile communicationsnetwork for performing a location registration process to generatepresent location information of a mobile communications terminal. Themobile communications network comprises: signal broadcasting means forbroadcasting, from each of one or multiple specific base stations aradio-zone information notification signal. Each of the one or multiplespecific base stations constitutes a radio zone. Each of the one ormultiple specific base stations may be part of a location registrationarea consisting of a plurality of radio zones. The radio-zoneinformation notification signal indicates the radio zone of the one orone of the multiple specific base stations.

The radio-zone information notification signal is broadcast by each ofthe one or multiple specific base stations. A signal reception means forreceiving a request signal through one base station is also included inthe mobile communications network. The request signal is for requestinga location registration process. The request signal is transmitted froma mobile communications terminal which has received the radio-zoneinformation notification signal from the one base station.

The mobile communications network further includes a locationregistration means for performing a location registration process. Thelocation registration process may generate information related to apresent location of the mobile communications terminal in the radio zoneof the one base station. The information may be generated based on therequest signal received by the one base station.

The present invention provides still another mobile communicationsnetwork for performing a location registration process to generatepresent location information of a mobile communications terminal. Themobile communication network comprises: a radio transmission device fortransmitting a predetermined radio signal. The radio transmission deviceis sited in each radio zone of one or multiple specific base stations.Each of the one or multiple specific base stations constitute a radiozone corresponding to a part of a location registration area consistingof a plurality of radio zones.

The mobile communication network also includes a signal reception meansfor receiving a request signal through one base station. The requestsignal is for requesting a location registration process. The requestsignal is being transmitted from a mobile communications terminal thathas received the transmitted radio signal. The mobile communicationnetwork further includes location registration means for performing alocation registration process. The location registration processincludes generating information on a present location of the mobilecommunications terminal in the radio zone of the one base station basedon the request signal received by the one base station.

The present invention further provides a mobile communications terminalserved by a mobile communications network. The mobile communicationterminal comprises a memory for storing identification information ofthe mobile communications terminal itself. In addition, the mobilecommunication terminal includes signal reception means for receiving aradio-zone information notification signal. The radio-zone informationnotification signal is indicative of a radio zone of one or one ofmultiple specific base stations. The radio-zone information notificationsignal is being transmitted from each of the one or multiple specificbase stations. Each of the one or multiple specific base stationsconstitutes a radio zone. Each of the one or multiple specific basestations may be part of a location registration area consisting of aplurality of radio zones. Each radio zone may be provided from a radiosignal transmission device sited in each radio zone.

The mobile communication terminal further includes signal transmissionmeans for transmitting a request signal to the one base station. Therequest signal is for requesting a location registration process. Thelocation registration process includes performing location registrationby generating present location information in the radio zone in responseto the reception of the radio-zone information notification signal. Thepresent location information is generated after including the storedidentification information in the request signal.

According to the present invention, the ID of a base station covering aradio zone that includes a specific area where a mobile communicationsterminal is located is obtained. Thus, it is possible to know thedetailed location of the mobile communications terminal, so that theuser of the mobile communications terminal can be provided with specificinformation according to the location of the mobile communicationsterminal.

Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will beor will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination ofthe following figures and detailed description. It is intended that allsuch additional systems, methods, features and advantages be includedwithin this description, be within the scope of the invention, and beprotected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a mobilecommunications system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a wide-arealocation registration area and a narrow-area location registration area.

FIG. 3 is an example format of a wide-area location registrationdatabase.

FIG. 4 is an example format of a narrow-area location registrationdatabase.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a gateway server.

FIG. 7 is an example format diagram of an area-code table provided inthe gateway server of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an example data format of a location-related informationdatabase.

FIG. 9 is a process sequence chart illustrating a registration operationof narrow-area location registration.

FIG. 10 is a process sequence chart illustrating a deleting operation ofnarrow-area location registration.

FIG. 11 is a process sequence chart illustrating an informationdistribution operation to distribute information to a mobile station.

FIG. 12 is block diagram showing another example configuration of amobile communications system.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a gateway serveras illustrated in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an example format of an area-code table provided in thegateway server illustrated in FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a process sequence chart illustrating an informationdistribution operation to distribute information to a mobile stationthat is illustrated in FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention may be carried out by the following embodimentsdepending on the modes of information distribution from an informationdistribution server to a mobile communications terminal.

One embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a firstdistribution mode. In the first distribution mode, an informationdistribution server may independently distribute information to a mobilecommunications terminal. The information may be distributed by theinformation distribution server without waiting for a request from themobile communications terminal. This distribution mode is hereinaftercalled “push type distribution.”

Push type distribution is used when, for example, an informationdistribution server wants to inform the user of every mobilecommunications terminal located near a first location, such as a trainstation referred to as an “A” station. The information distributionserver may provide information about an event taking place near the “A”station. The information distribution server provides mobilecommunications terminals with information based on location informationof the mobile communications terminals. The location information may beacquired by local location registration. Local location registration isperformed in a narrower area than the conventional location registrationarea.

Another embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a seconddistribution mode. The second distribution mode involves a request to aninformation distribution server by a mobile communications terminal. Inresponse to the request, information is distributed to the mobilecommunication terminal by the information distribution server. Thisdistribution mode is hereinafter called “pull type distribution.”

Pull type distribution is used when, for example, the user of a mobilecommunications terminal wants to go to a nearest location such as abank. The user may make a request to an information distribution serverabout the positions of banks located around a current position of themobile communications terminal. With pull type distribution, thelocation of a mobile communications terminal is determined based onidentification of a base station (hereinafter called a base station ID).The base station may operate within a mobile communications network. Thebase station ID may be affixed to an information request signaltransmitted to an information distribution server from the mobilecommunications terminal. In response, the mobile communication terminalis provided with information according to the location.

Each of the first and second distribution modes will be described withreference to the drawings. Note however that the present invention isnot limited to the first and second distribution modes but can bemodified in various ways within the scope of the technical concept.

A: First Distribution Mode

A-1: Configuration

A-1-1: General Configuration of a Mobile Communications System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of anexample mobile communications system. In the diagram, the mobilecommunications system comprises a mobile station 10 and a mobile packetcommunications network 20. The mobile packet communications network 20may be a mobile communications network that serves the mobile station10, an Internet 30 and a plurality of IP (Information Provider) servers40 illustrated as first and second IP servers 40 a and 40 b. The IPservers 40 a and 40 b are server systems operated by one or moreinformation providers. The IP servers 40 a and 40 b may be connected toa gateway server 25 via the Internet 30.

The mobile station 10 is a mobile communications terminal, such as aportable wireless telephone. The mobile station 10 may execute datacommunications via the mobile packet communications network 20. Inaddition, the mobile station 10 may execute voice communications via amobile telephone network (not shown).

The mobile packet communications network 20 is a communications networkfor providing the mobile station 10 with a packet communicationsservice. The mobile packet communications network 20 comprises aplurality of base stations 21 illustrated as a first and second basestation 21 a and 21 b, an exchange 22, a home memory 23, a packetsubscriber processing device 24 and the gateway server 25 that may beinterconnected by communications lines as illustrated.

Multiple base stations 21 a and 21 b may be sited at predeterminedgeographic distances within a communications service area. Each of thebase stations individually provide a radio zone generated by a radiotransmission device sited in each of the base stations 21. The basestations 21 perform radio communications with the mobile station 10present in each respective radio zone. The base stations 21 a and 21 bstore base station IDs assigned to each of the base stations 21 a and 21b. A base station ID is used for a distribution service for locationrelated information as will be discussed later.

The exchange 22 serves a plurality of base stations that includes basestations 21 a and 21 b. The exchange 22 may perform a switching processof the communication line serving the mobile stations 10 present in theradio zones of the base stations 21 a and 21 b.

The home memory 23 is a storage device that may perform a locationregistration process and a location deletion process of the mobilestation 10. The home memory 23 also operates as a location registrationmeans and a location registration deleting means. In addition to thelocation registration information, various kinds of information such assubscriber information and billing information are stored in a databasewithin the home memory 23.

The packet subscriber processing device 24 is a computer systemconfigured to be included in the exchange 22. The exchange 22 storesunique identification information of the packet subscriber processingdevice 24. The unique identification information is a packet subscriberprocessing device identifier, hereinafter called “PID.” The packetsubscriber processing device 24 executes a process of relaying a packetexchange between the mobile station 10 and the gateway server 25.

The gateway server 25 is a computer system provided in a mobile packetgateway relaying/switching center (not shown) for connecting the mobilepacket communications network 20 to other networks such as the Internet30. In addition, the gateway server 25 converts between differentcommunication protocols among a plurality of networks to relay dataexchanged among the networks. For example, the gateway server 25converts between a unique transmission protocol of the mobile packetcommunications network 20 and TCP/IP (Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol) and relays packets exchanged between themobile station 10 and the IP servers 40 a and 40 b. TCP/IP is oneexample of a communication protocol of the Internet 30.

Each of the IP servers 40 a and 40 b is an information distributionserver providing the mobile station 10 with various kinds ofinformation. In addition, the IP servers 40 a and 40 b may storeinformation to be provided as data in a format such as an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) format (hereinafter called HTML data). Of those IPservers 40 a and 40 b illustrated, the first IP server 40 a may be aserver providing the mobile station 10 with information related to thelocation of the mobile station 10 (hereinafter called location relatedinformation). The first IP server 40 a may include a location-relatedinformation database 41 a for storing various types of location relatedinformation.

A-1-2: Location Registration

Local location registration may provide location related informationrelating to a limited area (hereinafter called “narrow-area locationregistration”). Local location registration is performed in addition toa conventional location registration (hereinafter called “wide-arealocation registration”). Conventional location registration is forpaging the mobile station 10 at the time of incoming calls.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of therelationship between a wide-area location registration area forwide-area location registration and a narrow-area location registrationarea for narrow-area location registration. A plurality of wide-arealocation registration areas identified as WA1 to WA3 are areas definedby a plurality of radio zones covered by multiple base stations 21. Alocation registration process is carried out on an area-by-area basis.The base stations 21 may constantly broadcast area IDs of wide-arealocation registration areas to which the base stations 21 belong. Thearea IDs may be broadcast to mobile stations 10 present in the localradio zone of each of the base stations 21. Because the wide-arealocation registration process is a well-known technique, a detaileddescription of this technique is unnecessary. Information on wide-arealocation registration is registered in the home memory 23.

A narrow-area location registration area, on the other hand, is an areathat is defined as a radio zone of single base station 21. As shown inFIG. 2, a narrow-area location registration area is not provided for allthe radio zones of a plurality of base stations 21 that form thewide-area location registration areas WA1 to WA3. Instead, thenarrow-area location registration area may be set for radio zones NA1,NA2 and NA3 of some base stations 21.

Thus, radio zones to which narrow-area location registration is appliedmay be selectively set for local areas (e.g., specific areas, such asthe front of a train station and/or a busy shopping area). The number ofradio zones available for narrow-area location registration may beconsiderably smaller than the total number of the radio zones formed bythe base stations 21. Therefore, the execution of such narrow-arealocation registration in addition to wide-area location registration maynot cause a problem such as an increase in communication traffic on thenetwork.

Each of the base stations 21 of the radio zones NA1, NA2 and NA3 thatare set as targets for narrow-area location registration may constantlybroadcast an area ID of the wide-area location registration area towhich the respective base station 21 belongs. In addition, the basestation ID of a respective base station 21 may also be included with thearea ID. The area ID may be broadcast to mobile communications terminalspresent in the radio zone of a respective base station 21. When themobile station 10 is located in any of the narrow-area locationregistration areas NA1 to NA3, the mobile station 10 may detect apresent location area.

The present location area may be detected by receiving the base stationID transmitted from the associated base station 21. In response, themobile station 10 may transmit to the base station 21 a request signalfor requesting narrow-area location registration. The request signalincludes a mobile station ID. The mobile station ID includesidentification information of the mobile station 10 that is stored inthe mobile station 10. In addition, the mobile station ID includes thebase station ID received by the mobile station 10. The request signal istransferred to the home memory 23 from the base station 21. Informationrelating to narrow-area location registration may be registered in thehome memory 23 based on the request signal.

The narrow-area location registration is carried out when the area IDand/or the base station ID received by the mobile station 10 changes.The wide-area location registration is carried out when the area IDreceived by the mobile station 10 changes. When both the area ID andbase station ID received by the mobile station 10 change as a result ofthe movement of the mobile station 10, a request signal requesting bothwide-area location registration and narrow-area location registrationmay be transmitted to the base station 21 from the mobile station 10.Thus, the location of the mobile station 10 is registered in the homememory 23.

For example, a mobile station 10 that is located outside the wide-arealocation registration area WA1 and then moves into the narrow-arealocation registration area NA1 provided inside of the wide-area locationregistration area WA1. As such, both the narrow-area locationregistration (NA1) and the wide-area location registration (WA1)processes may be performed. In another example, a mobile station 10 thatis already located in the wide-area location registration area WA1 hasmoved into the narrow-area location registration area NA1. In thisexample, movement is within the same wide-area location registrationarea. Thus, the area ID received by the mobile station 10 does notchange and the narrow-area location registration does change. In thiscase, therefore, a wide-area location registration process is notexecuted but only a narrow-area location registration process is carriedout.

A-1-3: Configuration of Home Memory 23

The home memory 23 includes a wide-area location registration databasefor storing the wide-area location registration information. Inaddition, the home memory 23 includes a narrow-area locationregistration database for storing the narrow-area location registrationinformation.

FIG. 3 is an example format diagram showing the registered contents ofthe wide-area location registration database provided in the home memory23. As illustrated in the diagram, the wide-area location registrationdatabase may store a mobile station ID in association with a wide-arealocation registration area ID. The association indicates that a mobilestation 10 is located within a respective wide-area locationregistration area ID. The wide-area location registration area IDs mayindicate the respective wide-area location registration areas WA1, WA2,WA3 (FIG. 3). For example, in FIG. 3, two mobile stations 10 indicatedby mobile station IDs “MS09044444444” and “MS09055555555” are present inthe wide-area location registration area that is indicated by an area ID“AREA0001.”

When the mobile station 10 moves to a new wide-area locationregistration area, the wide-area location registration process isexecuted to renew the details registered in the wide-area locationregistration database.

FIG. 4 is an example format diagram showing the details present in anexample of the narrow-area location registration database. Asillustrated in the diagram, the narrow-area location registrationdatabase may store a mobile station ID in association with a basestation ID. Thus indicating that a mobile station 10 is located in theradio zone of a base station 21 that is set to provide narrow-arealocation registration. For example, in FIG. 4, two mobile stations 10identified by mobile station IDs “MS09011111111” and “MS09022222222” arepresent in the radio zone of the base station 21 identified by a basestation ID “BS006.” As further illustrated in FIG. 4, there is no mobilestation 10 located in the radio zone of the base station 21 identifiedby a base station ID “BS0007.”

When the mobile station 10 moves into a radio zone set to providenarrow-area location registration, the narrow-area location registrationprocess may be executed. The narrow-area location registration processmay be executed to renew the details registered in the narrow-arealocation registration database. The details of the narrow-area locationregistration process will be given later.

A-1-4: Configuration of Mobile Station 10

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the mobilestation 10. In the diagram, the mobile station 10 comprises atransmitter/receiver 11, a controller 12 and a user interface (I/F) unit13 all interconnected by a bus 14.

The transmitter/receiver 11 functions as signal transmission means andsignal reception means and performs radio communications with the basestations 21 in the mobile packet communications network 20. The userinterface unit 13 may include a display, such as liquid crystal display,which displays various kinds of information. In addition, the userinterface unit 13 may include a user input device for a user to performvarious kinds of input operations. The user input device may be forexample, a keypad, a microphone, a speaker for the user to talk, etc.The controller 12 controls the mobile station 10. The controller 12comprises a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 121, ROM (Read Only Memory)122 and RAM (Random Access Memory) 123. In other examples, fewer orgreater numbers of blocks may be used to illustrate the functionality ofthe controller 12.

The CPU 121 reads a control program stored as instructions in the ROM122 and executes various kinds of control processes based on theinstructions. The RAM 123 may be used as a work area for the CPU 121.Stored in the ROM 122 is a browser (not shown). The browser mayinterpret received data, such as HTML data, and provide an interactivefunction. Also stored in the ROM 122 is a control program for executingthe narrow-area location registration process. The narrow-area locationregistration process is a precondition for providing a user withlocation related information. The mobile station ID of the mobilestation 10 and a control program for providing the user with a voicecommunications service and packet communications service may also bestored as instructions in the ROM 122. 1A-1-5: Configuration of GatewayServer 25

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an example of thegateway server 25. In the diagram, the gateway server 25 comprises asystem control unit 251 and an area code converting unit 252interconnected by a bus 255. The system control unit 251 controls thegateway server 25. In addition, the system control unit 251 may functionas an interface with networks, and, for example, execute a protocolconversion between the mobile packet communications network 20 andanother network such as the Internet 30. The area code converting unit252 converts between a “base station ID” and an “area code” by referringto an area code table 256. The “base station ID” may be identified asinformation indicating the location of the mobile station 10 in a mobilecommunications network. The “area code” may be identified by the IPservers 40 a and 40 b as information indicating the location of themobile station 10 outside the mobile communications network.

FIG. 7 is a format diagram of an example of the area-code table 256 ofFIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 7, a “base station ID” of the base station 21that performs narrow-area location registration and an “area code”indicating an area where the base station 21 is sited are stored in thearea code table 256. The base station ID and the area code arecorrelated with each other. For example, the radio zone of the basestation 21 identified by the base station ID “BS006” is located in anarea identified by an area code “CODE001”.

A-1-5: Configuration of Location-related Information Database 41 a

FIG. 8 is a format diagram of an example of the location-relatedinformation database 41 a. As shown in the diagram, the “area code” ofeach area, the “area name” of the area identified by the area code andvarious types of “location related information” relating to that areaare stored in the location-related information database 41 a. Forexample, the area code “CODE001” indicates “1-chome, Yaesu, Chuo-ku,Tokyo (in front of Tokyo station).” Location related information such as“restaurant”, “movie theater”, “bank”, “building name (or a site atwhich an event is held)” of an “event” or the like in that area, and“address” and “telephone number” may also be stored in association withthe area code “CODE001.”

A-2: Operation

In the first distribution mode (push type distribution) with theabove-described configuration, the location of the mobile station 10 isobtained by performing narrow-area location registration based on anarrow-area location registration area. The mobile station 10 isprovided with location related information based on the obtainedlocation of the mobile station 10. Therefore, the following descriptionwill separately discuss 1) an operation associated with narrow-arealocation registration and 2) an operation for distributing locationrelated information.

A-2-1: Operation Associated with Narrow-area Location Registration

The operation associated with narrow-area location registration mayoccur when the mobile station 10 moves into a narrow-area locationregistration area. Upon entry into the narrow-area location registrationarea, narrow-area location registration information may be registeredusing an area location registration process. In addition, when themobile station 10 moves out of the narrow-area location registrationarea, the narrow-area location registration information alreadyregistered may be deleted. The individual operations will be discussedbelow.

(1) Registration Operation of Narrow-area Location Registration

A registration operation for narrow-area location registrationinformation will be described by referring to an example sequence chartshown in FIG. 9 and the mobile communications system illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2.

The narrow-area location registration process illustrated in FIG. 9 isexecuted only for the mobile station 10 that has moved inside anarrow-area location registration area, such as one of the narrow-arealocation registration areas NA1 to NA3 (FIG. 2). For purposes ofdiscussion, it is assumed that the narrow-area location registrationprocess is performed for the mobile station 10 present in thenarrow-area location registration area NA1.

A base station 21 sited in the narrow-area location registration areaNA1 is constantly broadcasting within its own radio zone (i.e., thenarrow-area location registration area NA1). The base station 21 maybroadcast a base station ID signal indicating its own base station ID.In addition an area ID signal indicating the area ID of the wide-arealocation registration area (WA1) to which the base station 21 belongsmay be included in the base station ID signal (step S1).

The mobile station 10 may transmit a narrow-area location registrationrequest signal requesting narrow-area location registration uponreception of the base station ID signal. Specifically, when the mobilestation 10 is located in the narrow-area location registration area NA1,the mobile station 10 receives the base station ID signal (step S2).Following receipt, the mobile station 10 transmits the narrow-arealocation registration request signal to the base station 21 (step S3).The narrow-area location registration request signal includes the basestation ID indicated by the base station ID signal received by themobile station 10 and the mobile station ID of the mobile station 10.

The base station 21 receives the narrow-area location registrationrequest signal transmitted from the mobile station 10 (step S4). Next,the base station 21 transfers the received narrow-area locationregistration request signal to the home memory 23 (step S5). The homememory 23 receives the narrow-area location registration request signaltransferred from the base station 21 (step S6). The home memory 23detects the base station ID and mobile station ID included in thereceived narrow-area location registration request signal. The basestation ID and mobile station ID may be registered in the narrow-arealocation registration database as narrow-area location registrationinformation (step S7).

(2) Deletion Operation of Narrow-area Location Registration Information

A deletion operation for narrow-area location registration informationwill be described by referring to an example sequence chart shown inFIG. 10 and the mobile communications system illustrated in FIG. 1. Forpurposes of discussion, it is assumed here that the mobile station 10which was present in the narrow-area location registration area NA1 hasmoved out of the narrow-area location registration area NA1.

The mobile station 10 may transmit a narrow-area location registrationdeletion request signal when a determined condition occurs. For example,when the reception level of the base station ID signal becomes equal toor lower than a determined threshold value a narrow-area locationregistration deletion request signal may be transmitted. The narrow-arealocation registration deletion request signal may request the deletionof narrow-area location registration. When the mobile station 10 movesout of the narrow-area location registration area NA1, the receptionlevel of the base station ID signal received by the mobile station 10 inthe area NA1 becomes equal to or lower than a determined threshold value(step S11). Thus, the mobile station 10 transmits the narrow-arealocation registration deletion request signal to the base station 21(step S12). The narrow-area location registration deletion requestsignal includes the mobile station ID of the mobile station 10 and thebase station ID of the base station 21 with the deteriorated signallevel.

The base station 21 receives the narrow-area location registrationdeletion request signal transmitted from the mobile station 10 (stepS13). Next, the base station 21 transfers the received narrow-arealocation registration deletion request signal to the home memory 23(step S14). The home memory 23 receives the narrow-area locationregistration deletion request signal transferred from the base station21 (step S15). The home memory 23 then detects the base station ID andmobile station ID included in the received narrow-area locationregistration deletion request signal. The home memory 23 then deletesnarrow-area location registration information comprising the detectedbase station ID and mobile station ID from the narrow-area locationregistration database (step S16).

A-2-2: Operation for Information Distribution with Push TypeDistribution

An example operation to provide the mobile station 10 with locationrelated information will be described by referring to a sequence chartshown in FIG. 11 and the mobile communications system illustrated inFIG. 1. For the purposes of discussion, it is assumed that the IP server40 a provides the user(s) of a mobile station(s) 10 located in front ofa location such as Tokyo station with location related informationrelating to an event “D” which is held near Tokyo station.

First, the IP server 40 a sends the gateway server 25 a request signal.The request signal may request that every mobile station 10 located inthe area that includes the front of Tokyo station be provided with thelocation related information relating to the event “D” (step S21). Therequest signal includes an area code such as area code “CODE001”indicating the area that includes Tokyo station. In addition, therequest signal includes the location related information relating to theevent “D”. The location related information relating to the event “D”may be acquired from the location-related information database 41 ashown in FIG. 8. The request signal transmitted from the IP server 40 ais received by the gategway server 25 (step S22). The gateway server 25first detects the area code “CODE001” in the request signal. The gatewayserver 25 then searches the area code table 256 shown in FIG. 7 usingthe detected “CODE001” as a search key and acquires the associated basestation ID “BS006” (step S23).

Next, the gateway server 25 accesses the home memory 23 and searches thenarrow-area location registration database shown in FIG. 4 using thebase station ID “BS006” acquired in step S23 as a search key. As aresult of the search, the gateway server 25 acquires the mobile stationIDs “MS09011111111” and “MS09022222222” of mobile stations that arepresent in the radio zone of the base station 21 identified by the basestation ID “BS006” (step S24). The gateway server 25 then transmits aninformation signal indicating the location related information relatingto the event “D” via the base station 21 identified by the base stationID “BS006” (step S25). The mobile stations 10 to which the informationsignal is to be sent are designated by the mobile station IDs“MS09011111111” and “MS09022222222” acquired in step S24.

Each of the mobile stations 10 identified by the mobile station IDs“MS09011111111” and “MS09022222222” may receive the information signal(step S26). The mobile stations 10 may then display on a display, suchas a liquid crystal display, indication of receipt of the locationrelated information to inform the user (step S27). The received locationrelated information may be displayed in accordance with a predeterminedkey operation by the user who has seen the display, thereby providingthe user with the location related information (step S28).

According to the above-described first distribution mode, locationregistration of the mobile station 10 is performed in a specific localarea within a conventional location registration area. Locationregistration in a specific area is performed so that a more detailedlocation of the mobile station 10 can be obtained. The more detailedlocation of the mobile station 10 enables the provision of more detailedlocation related information to the user of the mobile station 10.

B: Second Distribution Mode

A description will now be given of the aforementioned pull typedistribution mode.

B-1: Configuration

B-1-1: General Configuration of Mobile Communications System

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example general configuration ofthe mobile communications system according to the second distributionmode. In FIG. 12, the same reference numerals arc given to thosecomponents which are similar to the components illustrated in the mobilecommunication system of FIG. 1, so their description will not berepeated.

The functionality of the mobile communications system shown in FIG. 12however, differs from the mobile communications system illustrated inFIG. 1 in the configuration of the base stations, 21A and 21B asdiscussed later. In addition, the mobile communications system shown inFIG. 12 includes a home memory 26, a gateway server 27 and an IP server42 a with functionality that differs from the functionality of themobile communications system shown in FIG. 1.

As mentioned above, the second distribution mode is a “pull typedistribution” in which information is distributed to a mobilecommunications terminal (mobile station 10) in response to a request.The request may be made by the mobile communications terminal to aninformation distribution server. Specifically, according to the seconddistribution mode, unlike the first distribution mode, the location ofthe mobile station 10 is not determined by using narrow-area locationregistration information.

Instead, when a request signal requesting location registration(previously described as wide-area location registration with regard tothe first distribution mode) is transmitted from the mobile station 10,the base station ID of the base station 21 that has received the requestsignal is automatically affixed to the request signal and sent to thehome memory 26. The home memory 26 determines the location of the mobilestation 10 using the base station ID. Therefore, the base stations 21Aand 21B execute a location registration process based on a conventionallocation registration area (i.e., a wide-area location registrationarea). The home memory 26 has a database for storing conventionallocation registration information similar to the first distributionmode. However, a database for storing narrow-area location registrationinformation is unnecessary in the home memory 26 with the seconddistribution mode.

B-1-2: Configuration of Gateway Server 27

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example configuration of the gatewayserver 27. In the diagram, the gateway server 27 comprises a menu screenmemory unit 253, the system controller 251 and the area code convertingunit 252 interconnected by the bus 255.

The menu screen memory unit 253 may store data, such as HTML data, thatis to be displayed as an initial menu screen on the mobile station 10.The initial menu screen is a screen that may display initial menu itemsof various services available to the user of the mobile station 10. Themenu screen memory unit 253 may send the data for the initial menuscreen in response to a request from the mobile station 10.

The initial menu items may include, for example, an “electronic mailservice” and a “news flash service.” In addition, the initial menu itemsmay also include a “location information distribution service.” Embeddedin each of those menu items is an address such as a URL (UniformResource Locator) which designates the information resource of one ormore of the IP servers 42 a and 42 b capable of executing acorresponding service. That is, when the user of the mobile station 10selects a desired item from the displayed initial menu items, it ispossible to automatically gain access to the address of thecorresponding information resource(s), so that the user can acquireinformation.

The area code converting unit 252 includes an area code table 257. Thearea code table 257 may be used to convert a “base station ID” to an“area code.” FIG. 14 is an example format diagram of data to be storedin the area-code table 257. As shown in the diagram, the “base stationIDs” of the base stations 21A and 21B are stored in association with“area codes.” in the area code table 257. The “area codes” indicateareas where the base stations 21A and 21B are located.

Unlike the area code table 256 of the first distribution mode, the areacode table 257 stores the “base station IDs” of all the base stations21A and 21B and their associated respective “area codes”. For example, abase station 21 identified by a base station ID “BS0001” is located inan area identified by an area code “CODE012.” In addition, base stations21 identified by base station IDs “BS0001 to BS0005” are located in anarea identified by an area code “CODE030”.B-1-3: Configuration of IPserver 42 a

The IP server 42 a that provides location related information storesservice menu screen data. The service menu screen data provides a userwith more detailed service menus. In response to a request from themobile station 10, the IP server 42 a may send the service menu screendata to the mobile station 10 via the gateway server 27. The servicemenus may include, for example, a “restaurant information distributionservice”, “bank information distribution service”, “movie theaterinformation distribution service”, etc. The service menus may provide auser with information such as location information of a nearestrestaurant, bank, movie theater, etc. The address, such as a URL, of aninformation resource which provides each service menu may be embedded inthe service menu in the IP server 42 a. When the user selects a desiredservice menu on the service menu screen, the mobile station 10 mayaccess the information resource that is designated by the addressembedded in the service menu. B-1-4: Acquisition of the Location ofMobile Station 10

A description will now be given of how to acquire the location of themobile station 10 by referring to FIG. 12. A service request signal maybe transmitted to the IP servers 42 a and 42 b from the mobile station10. When the service request signal is being relayed, each of the basestations 21A and 21B and the packet subscriber processing device 24shown in FIG. 12 may add its own ID to the service request signal. Thatis, when the service request signal is received by the base station 21A,the base station ID of the base station 21A is added. When the servicerequest signal is received by the packet subscriber processing device24, the PID of the packet subscriber processing device 24 is added.

The service request signal transmitted from the mobile station 10 andaddressed to the IP server 42 a may pass through the mobile packetcommunications network 20, and is received by the gateway server 27. Theservice request signal may include the mobile station ID of the mobilestation 10. In addition, the service request signal may include the basestation ID and the PID that were added during the process of beingrelayed through the network. By referring to the mobile station ID andthe base station ID in the service request signal transmitted from themobile station 10, the gateway server 27 can learn which mobile station10 is located in the radio zone of which base station 21. B-2: Operation

Next, the operation of the second distribution mode with theabove-described configuration will be discussed by referring to anexample sequence chart illustrated in FIG. 15 and the example mobilecommunications system shown in FIG. 12.

First, the mobile station 10 may call the gateway server 27 inaccordance with a predetermined key operation by a user. The mobilestation 10 also transmits a packet communications start request signalrequesting the initiation of a packet communications service (step S31).The packet communications start request signal from the mobile station10 is received by the gateway server 27 (step S32). The gateway server27 goes into a packet exchange mode and transmits initial menu screendata stored in the gateway server 27 to the mobile station 10 (stepS33). The mobile station 10 receives initial menu screen data (stepS34). The menu screen data is interpreted to display an initial menuscreen on the display of the mobile station 10. The mobile station 10then waits for a user to make a menu selection input (step S35).

The user may select a desired service menu, such as the “locationinformation distribution service” provided by the IP server 42 a fromthe initial menu screen. The mobile station 10 transmits an IP serveraccess request signal requesting access to the IP server 42 a based onthe selected service menu. The IP server access request signal includesthe address, such as a URL, embedded in the selected service menu of theinitial menu and the mobile station ID of the mobile station 10 (stepS36). The IP server 42 a then receives through the gateway server 27 theIP server access request signal sent from the mobile station 10 (stepS37). The gateway server 27 may then transmit service menu screen datafrom the IP server 42 a to the mobile station 10. A destination mobilestation is designated by the mobile station ID included in the IP serveraccess request signal (step S38).

The mobile station 10 receives the service menu screen data via thegateway server 27 (step S39). The mobile station 10 then interprets thereceived data to display a service menu screen on the display and waitsfor the user to make a menu selection input (step S40).

When the user selects a desired service menu item, the mobile station 10transmits a service request signal requesting the provision of theselected service. The service request signal includes the addressembedded in the selected service menu item and the mobile station ID ofthe mobile station 10 (step S41). For example, the user may be locatedin front of Tokyo station and has selected the “bank informationdistribution service” to acquire information about nearby banks. Thegateway server 27 receives the service request signal sent from themobile station 10 (step S42). The gateway server 27 searches the areacode table 257 (shown in FIG. 14) using the base station ID (“BS0006”)affixed to the service request signal as a search key. As a result ofthe search, the gateway server 27 acquires a corresponding area code“CODE001.” The gateway server 27 converts the base station ID “BS0006”affixed to the service request signal into the associated area code“CODE001” (step S43).

The gateway server 27 next sends the service request signal to theinformation resource of the IP server 42 a designated by the address inthe service request signal (step S44). The IP server 42 a receives theservice request signal sent from the gateway server 27 (step S45). Byreferring to the area code “CODE001” included in the service requestsignal, the IP server 42 a acquires location related information of anarea corresponding to the area code (i.e., information about banks infront of Tokyo station) from the location-related information database41 a shown in FIG. 8 (step S46). The IP server 42 a then transmits theacquired location related information to the gateway server 27 with themobile station 10 designated based on the mobile station ID included inthe service request signal (step S47). The mobile station 10 receivesthe location related information for display via the gateway server 27(step S48). Thus, the user achieves the desired purpose.

The second distribution mode described above has the followingadvantages. The service request signal transmitted to the IP server 42 afrom the mobile station 10 includes the base station ID of the basestation 21 which indicates the radio zone in which the mobile station 10is presently communicating. Therefore the specific area in which themobile station 10 is located can be acquired by using the base stationID. As a result, the user of the mobile station 10 can be provided withlocation related information relating to a more limited area. C:Modifications

As already mentioned the present invention is not limited to thedescribed embodiments but can be modified in various forms such as thosegiven below.

C-1: Mode of Area for Narrow-area Location

A narrow-area location registration area may be an area which has aradio zone covered by a single base station. The embodiments however arenot so limited. Alternatively, an area having radio zones covered byplural (e.g., two or more) base stations may be a single narrow-arealocation registration area. In this case, the base stations broadcastthe base station ID assigned to the narrow-area location registrationarea within their respective radio zones.

C-2: Mode of Registration Operation for Narrow-area LocationRegistration

According to the above-described first distribution mode, the mobilestation 10 detects its presence in a narrow-area location registrationarea by receiving the base station ID sent from the base station 21.However, the embodiments should not necessarily be limited to the firstdistribution mode and may also operate in the modes discussed below.

(1) For example, the mobile station 10 may detect that it is present ina narrow-area location registration area by receiving a radio signalsent from a given radio device. Specifically, a radio-signaltransmission device which transmits a radio signal, such as infraredrays, may be sited in a narrow-area location registration area. Theradio signal transmitted from the radio-signal device is a signal forinstructing the transmission of a narrow-area location registrationrequest signal to the mobile station 10.

The mobile station 10 may be capable of receiving the radio signaltransmitted from the signal transmission device. In addition, the mobilestation 10 may be designed to transmit a narrow-area locationregistration request signal including its own mobile station ID to thebase station 21 upon reception of the radio signal.

When receiving a call signal from the mobile station 10, the basestation 21 may detect the mobile station ID in the call signal. The basestation 21 may send the detected mobile station ID and its own basestation ID to the home memory 23. The home memory 23 may store thereceived mobile station ID and base station ID in a narrow-area locationregistration database 232.

(2) Further, narrow-area location registration may be carried out byusing a call signal transmitted from the mobile station 10.Specifically, when a user uses the mobile station 10 to make a phonecall to another mobile station or a fixed telephone, the mobile stationID and a narrow-area location registration request may be included inthe call signal transmitted from the mobile station 10. When the basestation 21 that performs narrow-area location registration receives sucha call signal, the base station 21 may detect the mobile station ID inthe received call signal. The base station 21 may transmit the detectedmobile station ID and its own base station ID to the home memory 23. Thehome memory 23 may store the received mobile station ID and base stationID in the narrow-area location registration database 232.C-3: Mode of Deletion Operation for Narrow-area Location Registration

According to the above-described first distribution mode, the operationof deleting narrow-area location registration may be executed when thereception level of the signal from the base station ID drops, but it isnot limited to such operation. For example, narrow-area locationregistration information associated with the mobile station 10 in thenarrow-area location registration database may be deleted when themobile station 10 completes the reception of location relatedinformation transmitted from the IP server 40 a. Specifically, when themobile station 10 completes the reception of location relatedinformation, the mobile station 10 may send a reception completionsignal to the base station 21. The reception completion signal includesthe mobile station ID of the mobile station 10. Upon receipt of thereception completion signal, the base station 21 may transfer thereception completion signal to the home memory 23. The home memory 23may delete the narrow-area location registration information in thenarrow-area location registration database 232 by referring to themobile station ID in the received reception completion signal.

C-4: Mode of Mobile Station 10

While the first and second distribution modes use a mobilecommunications terminal such as a portable telephone, it is not solimited. Alternatively, a mobile communications terminal such as PDA(Personal Digital Assistants) or PHS (Personal Handyphone System)exclusively for data communications may be used if they havefunctionality for radio-communicating data with the base station 21 inthe mobile packet communications network 20.

C-5: Mode of IP Servers 40 a, 40 b, 42 a and 42 b

While the IP servers 40 a, 40 b, 42 a and 42 b in FIGS. 1 and 12 areconnected to the gateway server 25 via the Internet 30 in theillustrated embodiments, it should not necessarily be limited to such aconnection. For example, the IP servers 40 a, 40 b, 42 a and 40 b may beconnected to the gateway server 25 via special lines or may be providedinside the mobile packet communications network 20.

C-6: Description Language for Data

While data supplied to the mobile station 10 from the gateway server 25and the IP servers 40 a, 40 b, 42 a and 42 b is described as in HTMLformat, it is not so limited. Other description languages, such as XML(Extensible Markup Language), may also be used.

While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many moreembodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scopeof this invention. According, the invention is not to be restrictedexcept in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.

1. A gateway server communicating with a plurality of mobile terminalvia a first network and communicating with a plurality of informationprovider servers via a second network, comprising: a menu data controlthat sends a mobile terminal via the first network at least one set ofmenu data to guide a user of the mobile terminal, through at least oneround of menu selection process, to a selection requestinglocation-related information that the user is interested in obtaining,wherein at least one of the at least one set of menu data is accessibleby the gateway server; a request transmission control that receives arequest for the location-related information from the mobile terminalvia the first network and sends the request via the second network to aninformation provider server; an area code finder that uses at least onecommunication area identifier, recognized for communication with themobile terminal within the first network, to obtain an area code, andinforms the information provider server of the area code via the secondnetwork, wherein the information provider server uses the area code toobtain the location-related information regarding a geographical areadefinable by the information provider server in relation to the areacode; and an information transmission control that receives from theinformation provider server via the second network at least a part ofthe location-related information regarding the geographical area andsends at least a part of the received information to the mobile terminalvia the first network.
 2. A gateway server according to claim 1, whereinthere is more than one set of menu data, and a selection from one set ofmenu data leads to a next set of menu data.
 3. A gateway serveraccording to claim 1, wherein the area code finder informs theinformation provider server of the area code when the requesttransmission control sends the request to the information providerserver.
 4. A gateway server according to claim 1, wherein the area codefinder obtains the area code before the request transmission controlsends the request to the information provider server.
 5. A gatewayserver according to claim 1, wherein the request from the mobileterminal comprises a network address attributed to the informationprovider server.
 6. A gateway server according to claim 1, wherein thecommunication area identifier is indicative of a point of attachment tothe first network by the mobile terminal.
 7. A gateway server accordingto claim 1, wherein the communication area identifier is recognized forcommunication with the mobile terminal situated in the geographicalarea.
 8. A gateway server according to claim 1, wherein the mobileterminal is a wireless mobile terminal.
 9. A gateway server according toclaim 8, wherein the communication area identifier is indicative of abase station that provides a wireless connection to the mobile terminal.10. A gateway server according to claim 8, wherein the communicationarea identifier is indicative of the location of a base station thatprovides a wireless connection to the mobile terminal.
 11. A gatewayserver according to claim 8, wherein the communication area identifieris indicative of an paging area in which the mobile terminal may befound.
 12. A gateway server according to claim 1, wherein the area coderelates to the geographical area definable to variable scale.
 13. Agateway server according to claim 1, wherein the area code is devisedindependently of a postal code system.
 14. A gateway server according toclaim 1, wherein the area code identifies the geographical area by astreet number and name.
 15. A gateway server according to claim 1,wherein the area code identifies the geographical area by a landmarkobject.
 16. A gateway server according to claim 1, wherein thegeographical area is defined generally by at least one radio zoneincluding a radio zone created by a base station that provides awireless connection to the mobile terminal.
 17. A gateway serveraccording to claim 1, wherein the location-related information regardingthe geographical area comprises location information of at least onelocation where a service of interest is available in the geographicalarea.
 18. A gateway server according to claim 1, wherein thelocation-related information regarding the geographical area compriseslocation information of at least one location where an event of interestis held in the geographical area.
 19. A gateway server according toclaim 1, wherein the area code finder determines the area code byaccessing a table that correlates communication area identifiers totheir corresponding area codes.
 20. A gateway server according to claim1, wherein the geographical area id defined by the information providerserver in relation to the area code.
 21. A method for providing a mobileterminal with location-related information through a gateway server thatcommunicates with a plurality of mobile terminals via a first networkand communicates with a plurality of information provider servers via asecond network, comprising the steps of: sending a mobile terminal viathe first network at least one set of menu data to guide a user of themobile terminal, through at least one round of menu selection process,to a selection requesting the location-related information that the useris interested in obtaining, wherein at least one of the at least one setof menu data is accessible by the gateway server; receiving a requestfor the location-related information from the mobile terminal via thefirst network; sending the request via the second network to aninformation provider server; obtaining an area code by using at leastone communication area identifier, recognized for communication with themobile terminal within the first network; informing the informationprovider server of the area code via the second network, wherein theinformation provider server uses the area code to obtain thelocation-related information regarding a geographical area definable bythe information provider server in relation to the area code; receivingfrom the information provider server via the second network at least apart of the located-related information regarding the geographical area;and sending at least a part of the received information to the mobileterminal via the first network.
 22. A method according to claim 21,wherein there is more than one set of menu data, and a selection fromone set of menu data leads to a next set of menu data.
 23. A methodaccording to claim 21, wherein sending the request to the informationprovider server and informing the information provider server of thearea code are performed concurrently.
 24. A method according to claim21, wherein obtaining an area code is performed prior to sending therequest to the information provider server.
 25. A method according toclaim 21, wherein the request from the mobile terminal comprises anetwork address attributed to the information provider server.
 26. Amethod according to claim 21, wherein the communication area identifieris indicative of a point of attachment to the first network by themobile terminal.
 27. A method according to claim 21, wherein thecommunication area identifier is recognized for communication with themobile terminal situated in the geographical area.
 28. A methodaccording to claim 21, wherein the mobile terminal is a wireless mobileterminal.
 29. A method according to claim 28, wherein the communicationarea identifier is indicative of a base station that provides a wirelessconnection to the mobile terminal.
 30. A method according to claim 28,wherein the communication area identifier is indicative of the locationof a base station that provides a wireless connection to the mobileterminal.
 31. A method according to claim 28, wherein the communicationarea identifier is indicative of an paging area in which the mobileterminal may be found.
 32. A method according to claim 28, wherein thegeographical area is defined generally by at least one radio zoneincluding a radio zone created by a base station that provides awireless connection to the mobile terminal.
 33. A method according toclaim 21, wherein the area code relates to the geographical areadefinable to variable scale.
 34. A method according to claim 21, whereinthe area code is devised independently of a postal code system.
 35. Amethod according to claim 21, wherein the area code identifies thegeographical area by a street number and name.
 36. A method according toclaim 21, wherein the area code identifies the geographical area by alandmark object.
 37. A method according to claim 21, wherein thelocation-related information regarding the geographical area compriseslocation information of at least one location where a service ofinterest is available in the geographical area.
 38. A method accordingto claim 21, wherein the location-related information regarding thegeographical area comprises location information of at least onelocation where an event of interest is held in the geographical area.39. A method according to claim 21, wherein obtaining an area codecomprises accessing a table that correlates communication areaidentifiers to their corresponding area codes.
 40. A method according toclaim 21, wherein the geographical area is defined by the informationprovider server in relation to the area code.